Thought it was CRAZY he didn't go 2nd after Davis. I know teams worried about his desire but I wonder if his interview process was really bad? Even though I had doubts too there is no way I would not have passed on that combination of size, length, and athleticism.

Did you watch him play college ball? He was a total buzzkill along with that entire UConn team.

I'm pretty sure no one hates the guy. Maybe they're not a fan, but whatever. I'm rooting for him but threads like these make it funny should he continue to play drunk volleyball on the court like his UConn days.

Unless I'm mistaken, didn't his UConn team have ball dominant guards that didn't know how to get their bigs involved? If he was playing with a decent PG through his year at college I think he'd have put up much better numbers.

If you're being ignored and unappreciated for your team, you'll be more likely to be unmotivated at times. I think his lacklustre stats in college are due to this rather than a lack of motor. I know its a small sample size but three games into preseason and he sure doesn't look unmotivated or like he's just cruising through.

Yeah the UConn team was rubbish last season, they didn't have anybody who knew how to get other people involved, it was just a lot of isolation basketball. I remember one play where Napier got a steal and Drummond busted his ass to get on the break alongside him to create a 2v1 and Napier ignored Drummond to take a contested layup, which violates the number 1 rule of being a point guard: reward your big man.

Another game he was beasting in the first five minutes on the low block, with three straight buckets and it looked like he was in for a big game, but then the guards just started jacking shots and Drummond lost interest. It can be hard to live up to expectations as a big man when your success is in the hands of other players, it's not the same as star point guards who get the ball immediately. It didn't help that Coach Calhoun missed a lot of the season and that Dre had his nose broken early.

Drummond is going to be a force in the NBA, better than Davis in my opinion, I've said that for a long time, but I'm not expecting people to come around anytime soon. Also, you know who else had attitude problems, struggled with fouls and slipped in the draft? DeMarcus Cousins. Now he's the franchise player for the Kings and likely the 3rd best C in the NBA, and has the potential to reach number 1. If anything, Drummond has even higher upside than Cousins because he's even more mobile, just as strong and defensively is leaps and bounds ahead of him. Plus, he has the added bonus of not being stuck on a dysfunctional Sacramento Kings team.

As far as Drummond being passed on by the Raptors, they have Valanciunas coming in and it would have prevented either player from reaching their potential if they weren't given the room to grow, so that was a smart move, and taking Ross is going to pay dividends in the future.

I agree the point guard play was inept on UConn, but when you have similar skills to Davis (minus a promising jumpshot) with an extra 50 points, there had to be at least some substance to his game. I'm not sure he ever got into it with Calhoun. I don't remember anything related to that, so his attitude is a step up from Cousins.

Had Charlotte drafted him, MJ would've been killed by the media.

Washington had, though not a loaded frontcourt, one with a lot of salary paid out to.

Cleveland could've snagged him.

New Orleans would've been really interesting since Davis is a better fit at the 4 for now.

Kings as well, but it looks like Cousins is moving to the 5 anyway?

Golden State had Bogut returning.

Portland could've taken a shot, but as a fan of Drummond (yes I'm rooting for him) I'd rather not see him risk following the path of Oden.

Toronto had Jonas returning.

It's a perfect fit for him in Detroit while a lot of other places he wouldn't develop properly. Plus, just from seeing his reaction when Detroit was going to draft him, he seems like a good kid and has the drive that was missing from last season at UConn.

If I wanted a big in that last draft he would have been 1st. Too much size and athleticism to pass up.He did not put up huge numbers but he did what big men should do while dealing with jacking guards like PJ3. No guards with ability or patience to feed the post. Shame is Napier can pass but tries to do too much. Napier plays selfish and Boatright is a scorer.

After 3 pre-season games he's already a stronger and better defender than Jordan? Who is overrated as a post defender, but still is an above average NBA center and still better than Andre Drummond.

He had a good game, but Samuel Dalembert dropped 12 points on him in 10 minutes on 5-6 shooting. He's not exactly a defensive stopper. I'll give credit where credit is due, but 11 ppg 5.7 rpg and 1.7 blocks in the preseason doesn't make him better than NBA starting centers just yet. It's great news for Detroit, but I think you're getting ahead of yourself. What good is a post defender if he fouls out in 25 minutes?

The top 5 preseason rebounders are

Enes Kanter, Omer Asik, Kosta Koufos, Cole Aldrich, and Brook Lopez. It's a much more accurate picture of the NBA season than Summer League, but it's a far cry from the NBA.

I do believe Drummond is stronger than Deandre especially in the lower body. I know it has been limited action but I believe that he is a better post defender than Deandre. I think that goes back to strength. It isn't a bold statement. Deandre is a terrible defender. He does his job well of covering for his guards mistakes but his man usually torches him. Even of you think Deandre is better, it isn't by much and Deandre has been learning for 4+ years now.

As far as the Dalembert thing, please feel free to inform me because I did not see it. How did Sammy score? I know he has a little elbow jumper he likes now and if he made a few of those, I don't think it's a detriment to Andre's defense. I think every team lives with a Sammy D jumper. Again, I didn't see the game so let me know.

I'm not saying Drummond is DPOY, or all star. I'm not even saying he will make the all rookie team. I'm saying as a 18 or 19 year old, this guy comes in as a very strong C with good defense for his age. The fouls are a problem that will probably slow him all year but he will figure it out. I'm saying Detroit may not have drafted the best player(TBD, IMO) but Andre could end up being the most valuable player to his team one day. Very bright future for him.

Some of his points were early before Drummond was in, but I remember an offensive rebound then a dunk and then Drummond fouled him in the 2nd half and he hit both free throws. Then Henson came in with Gooden at the start of the 2nd and Drummond fouled Henson twice and he hit all 4 free throws. Gooden got a dunk, Henson had a big game, I mean, the kid has promise, but he was goal tending fouling on shots, picking up loose ball foulds and quite frankly just looking like a rookie center.

He put up a nice game line in the box score, but a better defender than NBA starters? His physciality is his biggest asset, but again, Milwaukee's center by committe approach consisting of two veteran journeymen and three guys under 225 lbs scored at will down low and won the game by 17 points. The Bucks had 48 points in the paint and gave up 108!!!!

It's okay to like the kid, but everyone is getting waaayyy ahead of themselves.

its crazy, i can remember when he was the sure fire #1 at the begining of last season.although he had a below average season, it was his first year...i gaurentee that if he came back for his sophmore year then he would have been 1st team all american and average 17+ 10+ and at least 3.5+

As he matures both mentally and physically he'll be fine. I've noticed he's really quick, (you can read online but if you watch it's pretty crazy) if he can get those huge feet under him and improve his footwork he'll be good. I kinda always thought he had had more of an NBA game, he's still raw and learning, I hope Ben Wallace comes back to help him learn to anchor the D. I hope he works hard.

He was 2nd on my "big board." I don't know if he'll be able to post his impressive pre season numbers during the regular season but its an encouraging sign that he might be able to live up to some of his poyential.

For the 1st Time in years,Pistons fans have a little something to be excited about...Drummond still has a long ways to go,he needs some improvements in certain areas,like free throw shooting and defense...But his preseason play so far has been impressive....And fellow rookies Khris Middleton and Kim English have also played well...

Last year folks in Detroit were asking for Dumars head on a Platter...But now after seeing the rookies showing promise,people are saying how great a job Dumars has done of finding talent in the draft...

The Pistons for years has always had great seasons whenever the team had an identity..The past few years,it seems like they been lost and werent in the nba anymore..Drafting Monroe,Knight & Jerebko started the youth movement ,and it lets fans know that the ''Young Guns'' is their new idenity......

Drummond was always going to be a work in progress and he did fall a lot further than a lot of people myself included thought he would. When Cleveland took Waiters, it threw the draft open and after 4th pick, there were very good reasons for the next few teams not to take him mainly due to their current roster. In Detroit, I feel he's landed in a good place as they can give him time, he has other good young players around him plus good veteran presences like Tayshaun Prince to help him along. He does not have the pressure of being a top 3 draft pick hanging over him and could almost be given an Andrew Bynum type induction into the NBA where he hardly played during his first season.

Coach Frank will instill defence into him and Brian Hill worked with a young Shaq in Orlando so can use his experience there to help Drummonnd and I fully agree with Benchwarmer's post above, I'd love to see Big Ben Wallace come back and maybe just act as a mentor to Drummond for a year like Kareem did with Bynum. Almost turn him over to Big Ben to work with on court and in the gym even if it means Drummond isn't in rotation and then maybe bring him onto the roster after All Star break and start giving him garbage minutes and getting more minutes as the season winds down. Afew months under Big Ben could help his game hugely especially on the defensive end, the kid looks like he would be a willing learner and again he'd be getting tuition from a top guy with a winning mentality.

The only issue I could see with Drummond in Detroit apart from if things don't work out on court is whether they discovered that Monroe and Drummond were both better suited to playing C although personally I see Monroe as a long term PF.

i said on here right after the draft theres no way he shouldve been taken at 9... teams like the kings, raptors, warriors, maybe im forgetting another team couldve taken him...even the blazers at 6.... and i got negged for it.. how he got to 9 was a miracle.... i know its only preaseason... but i never in a million years expected him to be this ahead..even if in his rookie yr he looks like deandre jordan offensively for the first few months i will be fine with that.... so yes alluding back to rudeboy... as a fan i finally have something to cheer for in the upcoming years... knight and monroe r rising studs to begin with.. adding drummond made it more sweeter for me

I thought it was crazy for Charlotte to pass on AD. Their roster had best, is absolute crap.They're basically starting from scratch, which is the perfect place to take a risk. Drummond is almost certainly a hit-or-bust player. At worst, Drummond is a dud and the Bobcats go back to the draft again the same way they do every single year. Best case scenario, Drummond reaches his potential and suddenly, the Bobcats are exponentially better after one pick. MKG will never be a franchise player. He's a glue guy, someone like Gerald Wallace and Iggy. The Bobcats need talent.

The Bobcats took Biyombo last year so had a long term big man prospect already in place, so I'd assume that is why they passed on Drummond. Also they needed to try and get a safe draft pick this year and whilst MKG may never be a superstar, he can be an Iggy/Crash type running mate for any future superstar they may draft so MJ decided to play it safe.

MKG and Shabazz who I think they will be tanking for would be an amazing building block for any team. We hear about teams draftibg to change the enviroment if a franchise and thats what MKG bribgs. Drummond would never be able to bring that. Noel could potentially bring similar production Zeller and Biyambo would be a great frobtcourt and perfectly compliment eachother going forward and Muhammed prohects to be a good 1st option for the future so they didnt need to gamble knowibg they will get a top prospect in the next draft. Micheal will bring a winning mentality anddrive to the franchise that no player in the 2012 or 2013 drafts seem to have. Good pick!

As for the Cavs I think they really messed up. I dont think Waiters is a bad player but he has all the issues that make players drop out of the lottery and other than one productive season off the bench with similar production to former Syracuse star Andy Rautins he is relatively unproven. He must have really nailed his workouts and interviews to have the Cavs draft him over not only Lamb and Ross but also Lilliard Barnes and Drummond considering his weight and coachability issues hes had in the past.

Kings drafted Robinson for similar reasons Charlitte drafted MKG so cant blame them, Portland drafted Lilliard who really nailed every workout while they had a gaping hole at PG also the whole Oden thing repeating would be in the back of the heads for the fans and irginization, Barnes fills a huge hole at SF for GSW fits perfectly and they have like 20 mil a year incested in thier centwr poaition and the Raptors drafted Ross to help Derozan reach his potential have a reason not to ocerpay him and add a shooter while not slowing the progreasion of thier former pick Valanciunas. All good excuses on why not to draft Drummond although at this moment I feel every team but the Hornets Bobcats and Blazers screwed up by passing on Drummond.

I stated all year that I'd take Drummond 1. Maybe it was HS hype but I think it's because he is a freak. But you can't dismiss why everyone was talking about Davis. He had a monster year. I'm with you on the motor thing though. I'm sure everyone has played on a bad team or played on a team where someone else wants to he the man. It is really hard to have your motor running when you don't get touches and you're the better player. Plus you're losing on top of it. I'm sure he's working hard to succeed in the NBA.

I wonder sometimes if teams are reluctant to have two prospects who will need a lot of development in the same combo eg PG/SG and PF/C. So Cleveland who felt Irving was further along and took Waiters to go alongside him rather than say Drummond to go alongside Thompson. Also the Kings perhaps didn't feel that DMC and Drunmmond would gel.

The funny thing is if Drummond had slipped one more place would NOH have dived in at 10 and had him and Davis as a long term frontcourt.

From the highlights I saw against the Bucks, Drummond looks like he can be in rotation sooner rather than later, whilst I don't see him being a starter or even a key bench player yet, he'll get minutes and could well be Coach Frank's big body on court for match ups against larger teams and as a ideal screen on pick and roll plays if needed.

I fully agree with OhCanada about Shabazz and MKG being a great duo, Shabazz has that bit of X-Factor which I don't think any of the other likely 2013 draft class have although there are a lot of elite prospects in there. Unless say Cody Zeller could be a rock solid PF who would give them good scoring in an LMA type role or McAdoo had a big break out year. Personally I think the Bobcats need one of Shabazz, Parker or Wiggins to really try and get the team going and even then you'd have an issue as MKG plays SF like the later two.